Improvement in horse hay-rakes



w. s. ARCHER,

Horse Hay-Rake.

THE GRAPHIC C0. PHlTOrLlTli-SQ Gr.41 PARK PLAGEJLY.

scar-'rr NITE STATES wILLIAM s. ARCHER, OE DAYTONLOHIO, AssnvoR OErHREEroURTHs OE HIs RIGHT 'ro CHARLEs R/CLECC, E. MORGAN woon, AND GEO.A. ARCHER, OE sAME PLACEf llvlPRovEMENT IN HORSE HAy-RAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 160,99 dated March 23,1875 applicxtion filed January 28, 1875.

To all whom it may concern: A

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. ARCHER, of the city of Dayton, in thecounty of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Horse Hay-Rakes; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the-letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecication.

Figure l is a plan view of the horse hayrake, showing the severalimprovements. Fig. 2 is part of the rake-head, to which the forkteethare to be attached. Fig. 3 is a front view of the adjusting-plates bywhich the elevation of the fork is regulated. Fig. 4 is a sectionalelevation of part of Fig. 1, on the line .r x, showing the method ofpivoting and operatin g the hand-levet and the treadle. Fig. 5 is asectional elevation of Fig. l, on line y y, showing the hinge by whichthe horse-shafts are connected to the rake-head. Fig. 6 represents across-section and a plan view of the plate-clips which retain the teethupon the rake-head, and the guard-plate over the teeth to stop the hay.Fig. 7 represents two views of the anged plate for the support of thewheel-spindle at any point which may be required by the adjustment, asshown in Fig. 3',

of the two plates. A.

The nature of this invention relates to several improvements in horsehay-rakes, whereby they can be more economically constructed, an'd theiroperation be more readily controlled, and also in simplifying thedevices, and thus rendering the whole apparatus less liable toderangement of parts, as will hereinafter be more fully described.

In the drawing, A A represent the teeth. B is the rake-head to which theteeth are attached by plates L, in sets of two or more. C G arewheel-spindles in the rear of the rakehead, and fastened adjustablythereto, by plates to be described hereafter. D is a footlever hinged atone end under` the shaft, and to which is fastened a chain, d, leadingover a pulley, ol', and under the pin c, and another pulley, f, andaffixed to a catch, a, on the lever F. E E are the horse-shafts whichare hinged to the rake-head B at B', and permanentlyr fastened to thebeams E at the rear, and E in front, which act as braces, and form theframe of the rake. F is a hand-lever of peculiar structu-re and action,having no fixed fnlcrum, but bearing upon a fulcrumpin, c, along thegroove c', thus, while in motion, lessening the power of the long armF-, by increasing the distance between the fulcrum-pivot c and the otherend of the lever at d, where the weight of the load in the teeth willincrease the motion of discharge as the rake-head turns in the directionof the arrow,

in Figs. 4 and 5, by the resistance of the loadj against the teeth, theyacting as levers to' turn upwardly, and permit the load to drop out. Thepin b in the lower slot of the lever acts as a guide, and is neverreached by the upper end d of the groove, which, therefore, cannot actas a fulcrum. G H are plates pivoted together at h, and secured inposition relative to eachother laterally, by a screw-bolt at h', wherethere are represented three holes, but any number desired maybe used.Theian ge- Yplate g has screw-holes by which the plate G is securedpermanently to the axle or turning beam. In the plate H there is aprojecting pipe, h", through which the wheel -spindle passes to receivethe wheel, the other end of the spindle being secured in a hangedplate', I, bya groove,fi,formed in a segment of a circle, i', so thatwhen the plate H, carrying the spin4 dle in the pipe h ,is moved toeither ofthe positions at h ,the other end of the spindle at c" can bemoved to its parallel position with the axle B, and secured there by thenut and screw fastening c. This movement of plates Gr and H is to adjust the teeth to a higher or lower position to suit the ground orcharacter of the work to be performed. J is a plate secured to rake-headB, having a tongue, j,

to which is pivoted a double link, j', the upper end of which is pivotedto the end d of lever F. This link j permits the free movement of therake-head B, when the load causes it to rotate in direction of the arrowto be discharged. K is the hooked end of the teeth A A, which laps overthe rake-head B, and is held in position loosely by the clip or plate L,which is constructed with two shanks, L L', having within them groovesto cover the teeth, and a cross-bar, l, which is fastened to therake-head B by a screw at l', so that by this arrangement two teeth canbe secured by one screw or bolt. More teeth than two can be secured byconstructing a plate for their reception in a similar manner. M M arethe bearers in which the lever and pulleys with the chain are arranged,and are braced to.-1 gether and held down to the frame by straps N N andscrew-bolts. In these bearers M M the bolts b, c, and d are so arrangedthat the upper end of the slot d shall never bear upon the pin b to forma fulcrum.

The construction and operation of the rake are as follows: The teeth A Aare attached to the rake-head B, which can be turned to raise them anddischarge the load either by its weight or by the lever F. The rake-headB is hung to and in front of the spindles C C, upon which the wheelsrevolve. The teeth A A are held in position for raking by the pressureof the drivers foot upon the treadle-lever D, and the load, whenaccumulated, discharges itself by releasing the foot from the treadle,which may be assisted by the handlever F, if found necessary from anyunusual cause. This automatic discharge of the load is due to the mannerof hanging the rakehead B to the shafts E, and in such relation to thewheel-spindles C G that sufficient leverage is obtained to easily turnthe rakehead, thereby causing the teeth to be raised and discharge theload.. This is effected by placing the center of revolution so far backon the shafts as to throw the weight of the rake-head and the platesattached thereto proportionately beyond that center, so as to act, insome measure, as a counter-weight to the load and its resistance alongthe ground in dragging, so that all of that weight on the rake-headhelps the revolving tendency when the foot-lever is released. So soon asthe load shall have been discharged the pressure of the foot on thetreadle draws the lever F down again, and the rake-head B resumes itsproper position.

From actual experiments it is found that the driver can reset the teethby the footle ver alone; and the teeth are retained in their rakingposition by the pressure of the foot acting upon the chain, which, beingfastened to the lever F at a, and passing under the pulley at d, gives apowerful control of the lever F when down, because the distance of thefulcrum-pin c from the end of the lever at d is the shortest possiblewhen the teeth are gathering the load, which, in the present case, madeupon the proper proportions suited to practical results, gives the longarm to the short, as fourteen to one. So soon, however, as the load isready for discharging, the lever D being released, the revolution ofrake-head B draws the end d of lever F downward and forward, constantlydiminishing the proportion from fourteen to one to the maximum ot' tento five, which gives a rapidly-increasing motion in discharging theload. These are the proportions in the present case, but any other maybe used.

The footflever is swung at one end to the shafts but any other means maybe employed to draw the chain tight by the application of the foot.

The handlever can be used alone to hold the rake-teeth, or for loweringand raising them. l

The teeth-fastening is an improvement upon my former patent, grantedApril 11, 1874.

The teeth pass over the rake-head B, and are bent down to the frontthereof, and are held loosely in grooves in the clip or plate L, whichplate, having two grooved shanks, holds two teeth, and, by theperforated connecting-bar l, is held down by one screw in hole Z', thusaffording a ready means of fastening or releasing the teeth whennecessary. The spring of the teeth is accomplished by the resistance ofthe two points of bearing, viz., at K and k.

A perforated plate, P, is employed to prevent the hay from passing uponthe back of the teeth, as seen in Fig. 6. This plate P has a shank, p,by which it is fastened to the axle by the same bolt which secures theclip L, and covering the teeth in pairs, whereby it is made t'o act as asupport for two rake-teeth against side pressure, as well as to preventthe clogging of the hay around the upper ends of the teeth.

In this construction of a horse hay-rake there is no gearing, clutches,or ratchets in the wheels, or any other machinery to effect thedischarge of the load; nor is it necessary to use the weight' of thedriver for this purpose. In the present arrangement the load is quicklydischarged automatically from the change of fulcrum in the lever F, and,practically, little time is lost in the operation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a horse hay-rake, a vertically-adjustable and swinging rake-head,hinged at its rear side to the shafts of the machine, it being arranged,with reference to the wheel-spindles, substantially as shown, wherebythe position of the outer ends of the rake-teeth can be regulated withreference to the ground, and whereby the resistance offered by thematerial to be gathered is made to aid in swinging the head to aposition below the spindles, for the purpose of facilitating thedischarge of the load, substantially as set forth.

2. The slotted curved lever F, in combination with the connecting-linksj and j and rake-head B, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The slotted plate G and plate H, combined with the spindle C, slottedplate I, and

rake-head B, substantially as and for the purpose described.V

4. The combination of the slotted lever F, pins b c, link'j', chain d,treadle D, and rakehead B, for the purpose described.

5. rEhe guard-plate P, when constructed as shown, and combined with theteeth-holders L L', whereby it is made to act as a support for tworake-teeth against side pressure, as-

